It Started with Tea
by jebinnam
Summary: A young merchant steps out of a prison with a much darker heart. And a young sorceress returns from the Glade to a very different world. Rated T for violence.
1. Prelude & Chapter 1

**Credit belongs to Riot for Champions and Locations. It is helpful to read the background lore of all mentioned champions before beginning this story.**

**Prelude**

Veigar. His name struck fear into the hearts of every yordle in Bandle City. Even Captain Teemo cringed at the name. Evacuations began when the Master of Evil gave his ultimatum. This is how Veigar wanted it. This is how he hoped that it was.

Yet some deep whisper in him told him that in Bandle City, they laughed at his name. That his hated enemy treated him as a petty theif or trouble maker. And his threats dwindled down to rumors of his foreseen failure.

For Veigar had seen failure. He knew what it was like in Bandle Jail. He had faced down other yordles outside of League, even Teemo, and been made the fool.

And after he broke out of prison, he would sulk in his lair. But not for long. Prisons made him paranoid, and he had more tricks up his sleeve than scars. He would have to go do something evil to return his mood of foreboding, his spirit of ill will. Doing something evil always gave him some form of happiness, no matter how shallow.

He only had reservations when Lulu was involved. It was because of an event that happened when he first truly met the purple yordle. His encounter with her had been about revenge to Bandle City, but his plan to kidnap her somehow turned into an afternoon of tea… and one tear that burned itself into his memory.

**Chapter 1**

It was always pitch black. So his eyes glowed with perfect night vision.

The smell of chemicals and burnt flesh hung on the air. Needless to say, Veigar's dark fur was not a normal fur color for yordles.

The halls echoed with screams and sobs. So his ears generally learned to ignore the needy.

But this time, he was searching for one voice, one ear trained on the line of cells to the left. He needed to find her.

His mind interrupted his search with images of their past: sitting around the campfire or walking along dusty roads together. And he imagined running through the Noxian forest, with her in his arms, an hour from now. It was what he was striving for. It was what he had broken out for. His other ear listened for the clomp of guards. He had chosen a rainy day, when superiors decided to force most of the guards outside. The rain muffled his own footsteps, and his constant ragged coughs seemed little else than background noise in this living hell.

He finally found the main security office. Inside was a single Noxian, who left this life with his own steel sending him off. Veigar wasted no time in finding the right file cabinet and searching for a name. This name didn't belong in these files. This name should never have come here.

But sure enough, he found the name "Kiri", labeled "Merchant", in the list of prisoners marked "K – I". Her list of torture treatments was far shorter than Veigars, but this did little to stop his agonized growl, which subsequently turned into a coughing fit.

He turned his head to cough into his arm, and when he looked back, he found most of the names were marked deceased. All along the list, at the very far right, were the status of the prisoners, their cause of deaths penned beside. His breath froze when he saw Kiri's status: "Deceased – chemical poisoning".

His world began to slowly spin, as his mind drew up images one last time.

Her soft green eyes flashed across his vision, her favorite summer dress, her long red hair, and lastly her fear. He heard her scream in his mind as they dragged her to her cell by her soft flowing hair.

By the file, she had not lasted two week… which means he had been alone in this prison for four years.

In that moment, all of the guards in the whole prison could have burst into room, and Veigar wouldn't have cared. He might have even tried to kill them all with his limited magical knowledge, or even his teeth. But his last friend in the world was dead.

What now? His plan to leave remained intact. But he now had a different escape route. His eyes turned to an object he had previously ignored. On the weapon rack, he found a battle axe, but the middle was made of enchanted yew wood, and the head had a yellow crystal in it. This means it could be infused with spells. Indeed, he found one spell already bound to it: "Primordial Blast" (one level below a "Burst" spell).

He tried to pick it up, but found it too long and unwieldy. He nearly left the mace, but saw two human-sized gauntleys lying in the armor section. He slipped them on, his fingers, stretched through torture, reaching just long enough. He chuckled darkly at how his captors HAD been useful for something.

He then easily picked up the mace. He turned suddenly and screamed the spell at the guard, his mace aimed in front of him. "PRIMORDIAL BLAST!" His voice was high and scratchy, again a result of torture, and that was the first thing he had spoken since his capture. His surprise at his own voice quailed at the awe of his spell.

Magical energy ran up the yew wood to fill the crystal in the mace, curling around the battle axe heads. A large blue ball of dark energy formed at the head of the staff, growing to the size of Veigar, before tearing towards the guard. But instead of just destroying the body, like Veigar thought it would, the whole wall fragmented and went flying outwards in small pieces.

Veigar walked up to the gaping hole, finding himself looking down on the main entry area of the Yordle Wing. Several guards were gaping at the small dark character. He allowed himself a small cruel chuckle (a first of many), as a few of them turned and ran for the safety of the barracks. He could get used to this.


	2. Chapter 2

A young yordle skipped her way down the brick road, her purple hair bouncing, and her lips humming a chipper tune. Looking only either at the sky or flowers, she made the perfect target. In the bushes nearby, two gleaming yellow eyes filled with glee at the easy grab. She was oblivious.

She saw the yellow crystal of a staff out of the corner of her eye, but it was far too late. The silently spell hit her side on, and she crumpled to the floor.

From out of the bushes came a shadowy figure, walking with great ceremony over to his kill. Although technically she wasn't dead. The yordle gazed down at her softly rising and falling chest, pausing a moment. His eyes searched for a memory. But he dismissed it with a blink, and put his staff on top of the yordle, proceeding to pick both up. He paused once more, no doubt visualizing how this might have looked to an onlooker (although the road was currently empty).

The pause was short, as he dropped the yordle onto the grass in front of him. He picked up his staff, turned on one heel to face her, and mumbled a few words. Then he slowly raised his staff, and the limp body lifted like-wise. Continuing his ceremonial march, he stomped off into the forest, flicking an offending butterfly out of the way.

* * *

><p>In the office of the Scouts of the Mothership, Teemo was resting in his chair, his trusty blowpipe on his desk beside him. All of his scrolls were laying on his desk and floor. His eyes were hidden underneath both his scout hat and his eyelids.<p>

But even while napping, his ears picked up the sound of two pair of feet running down the hall outside, towards his door. The lighter one that scraped more was his junior scout, Lendilia, and the heavy punctual clomp of boots (signifying military experience) was undoubtedly his close friend Tristana.

He knew something was up because they were jogging indoors. Also, Tristana never visited on a Wednesday, meaning it was an emergency of some sort. This is why, when they turned into the open door, they found him packing his scrolls.

"What is it, Lendi?"

Her shoes suggested that she had run a long way, since Scout shoes are, as a rule, polished to perfection, and hers were covered in mud.

"A yordle has been caught by the villain Veigar, and she is being held hostage."

Teemo immediately began to buckle on his dart pouch, urgency speeding him. Even if Veigar was clumsy sometimes, he was never to be underestimated.

"Teemo?" Tristana asked softly, not at all like her.

"Yes?"

"It's… Lulu."

Teemo froze, hand outstretched to a scroll.

Just the day before, Teemo had been called about a Sorceress from the Fae Glade. Evidently, she had turned half of the children populace of Bandle City into furry animals and brightly colored plants. But before Teemo could come bring diplomacy, the parents had thrown Lulu out of the city. She then stopped to talk with the wall guard for an hour about how their day was and what color their personalities were, before finally moving on.

Teemo stared at the purple parchment in Lendi's hands, Veigar's signature ransom paper. He had hit a predicament. He didn't know who he was more worried about.

* * *

><p>Lulu was having a wonderful day. Just yesterday, she had been playing hide and seek with the children of Bandle City, and now she was in a gigantic castle, full of trophies, bookshelves, rows of chandeliers, and a giant column which she was tied to.<p>

Pix was struggling with the bonds, but she ignored him. She loved this place's open feeling. Especially since she could smell magic wafting through the air like the aroma of fresh bread. But best of all: the walls, floor, and ceilings were all purple.

She wiggled her curly-toed shoes, as she let her eyes roam all over the room.

Suddenly, a high-pitched voice shrilled out of the shadows.

"DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE?"

She then noticed, in the gloom, a yordle, nearly perfectly camouflaged with the wall, although his clothes more blue than purple. He had on a wide hat, complete with a blue plume, which made him look taller than he was, the wide brim shadowing his face, and his hands were hidden inside large metal gauntlets.

"Hiya!" she beamed a bright smile into the shadows. 

Veigar was quite put off that she had seen him so soon. He had wanted to remain hidden to preserve dramatic effect. And worse, she was smiling, as his captive. He clenched his fist, ready to bellow at her, but she spoke first.

"Aren't I in a magical castle? Are you the lord over it? I love your library!" Words flew out of her mouth, her last remark directed to a wobbly stack of books on a wall to his left.

Veigar was immediately put out. She didn't know who he was. Knowing and fearing your captor was half of a good entrance.

And a library? A magical castle? His eyes scanned his dirty mess. His fists clenched, but an eyebrow visibly tilted his hat.

She had called him a lord, and that he was. Yet he preferred "Master" to signify that he was the best at what he does: evil magic and utter destruction. He looked her up and down.

It was a young female yordle tied to an old dead trunk he had magically implanted into the center of his sea of clothes and evil plans. She had a red dress embroidered with gold, purple pants, strange shoes that curled into points at the end, purple hair that ran past her shoulders, and green eyes… that were wild with excitement and awe. She looked familiar, but Veigar couldn't put his finger on it…

A sudden movement caught Veigar's attention, and he noticed the fae straining at Lulu's bonds. Where had that thing come from? He hadn't noticed it when he cast the sleep spell. He nearly killed it then and there, his staff raising to strike the small creature. But he stopped. Part of him reasoned that it was getting nowhere. Indeed it was struggling wildly with ropes that didn't budge. But that wasn't the real reason for why he had stopped. In reality, he remembered who Lulu had looked like. Kiri… 

Lulu watched as the strange blue yordle stood frozen, probably contemplating her and Pix, while she wondered when they would get to the grand duel. She hoped Pix was okay being the damsel in distress.

But suddenly, the yordle turned and walked quickly off, into a back room that she had previously decided was the throne room. His hat flopped low over his eyes as he left, but she saw the glisten of a tear in his left eye.

Immediately the game disappeared. Lulu turned to her companion.

"Pix, untie me."

The fae made some excuse about the ropes being too tight.

"Piiix! Come on, please!"

The fae reluctantly flew around to the back knot and untied the ropes. As soon as the ropes fell off, she was rushing for her staff and hat from the floor nearby (where poor Pix had carried them to), and then to the throne room.

It turned out to be a bedroom, and sitting on the bed in the middle of a mess of ripping wallpaper and purple notes was a furry yordle with bright yellow eyes, his hat held in his left gauntlet. His eyes were distant and bore an undeniable trace of despair. His fur was a deep shade of gray, with small white scars on the back of his head running down to some place below his collar. Crumpled in his right gauntlet was a tissue.

She stood for a second, taking in the scene, before rushing to the side of the bed, effectively scaring the sadness out of Veigar entirely.

"Hey, are you alright?" Lulu asked, her eyes searching his.

"I AM COMPLETELY FI—HOW DID YOU BREAK OUT?" he replied, completely unnerved by her stare. His right gauntlet went behind his back.

Lulu ignored the second question. "You don't look fine."

"GET AWAY! AND GET BACK IN YOUR—"

"I know! I'll make some tea!" she interrupted, as she ran off through the backdoor.

Veigar stared bewildered at the backdoor as it slammed closed. For a second he wondered if he had lost his hostage. But did he want her back? She was currently only a painful reminder. He humphed as he also realized that Lulu acted nothing like Kiri. She was crazy for even caring about him. He decided that he was happy that she was gone, even if temporarily.

He crossed his arms and sighed, but a movement to his left caught the breath halfway. She had left the fae.

* * *

><p>Lulu returned to find the yellow-eyed yordle holding his hat down with both hands, over something that was struggling.<p>

She gasped in wonder. "Aaah! Have you caught a squirrel?!" She ran over and lifted the hat, only to find a very exasperated Pix.

Veigar was irritated that all his hard work capturing the creature went to waste, but gleefully waited for her to burst out in anger at him. But what met his ears was a giggle.

"Oh! You silly Pix." With that, the strange picked up the exhausted little creature, and walked back out the door.

For a second, Veigar was dumbfounded. Then his fists began to rattle with anger. He nearly screamed aloud. It was infuriating to him to see her smile and laugh at his very serious and evil plots.

She was supposed to be his hostage, not his nursemaid or, even worse, his friend. True evil cared for no one, and let no one close. He did not really want his captive anymore, when he thought about it. She was turning into a pest, like Teemo.

He then froze. Teemo. He had not arrived yet. He should have been there before the sleep spell wore off, or soon after. Had Teemo given up? Hopefully, Teemo had come in to see Lulu untie herself… how had she done that, again?

Veigar was lost in thought but was brought back to reality by a sudden yell.

"IMAGINATIO!"

Then the whole room began to shake. More importantly, he felt a gigantic wave of magic come through the open back door. Was this crazy yordle a mage?

He peeked around the charred oak backdoor, and froze. It was a dining room. It was huge, white, and in all other ways Demacian. The walls were white, with large windows letting in the afternoon sun. There were five pale gold chandeliers, including a large central one that had crystals hanging from its arms. Four large whitewashed columns held up the roof 30 feet above his head. On the domed ceiling was a painting of winged squirrels gracefully circling each other.

The center table looked like it could fit two families of ten, but there were only two chairs. They were either side of the center of the table, with the center space was flanked by two identical table decorations of flowers, candles, and bowls of yellow pears.

Lulu was standing at a mirror in the far right corner of the room, admiring her new white outfit. The hat, dress, and stockings were all white. Veigar personally thought the stockings were out of place, since her hat and dress where edged with lace, gold patterns running through both. Her purple hair was now soft violet, but when she turned to him with her wide smile, he saw her eyes were still emerald green.

Veigar ran back into his room, grabbed his battle axe-staff, and stomped into the room to face the smiling yordle. Veigar had just one question: "WHERE IS MY BACK YARD?"

His four dank pine trees were now completely gone… unless she had used them as the columns. Was this an illusion spell? There was a way to find out.

"ABSTERGO!"

A pulse of orange magic flew from his outstretched gauntlet (which was infused with many basic spells) in waves that ran all along the room's interior, but to his surprise, nothing changed. The white dining room was still there, and Lulu just stood smiling mischeviously.

Veigar's eyes widened. How in the world did this all happen?

Lulu watched with barely contained giggles, as he tried to piece things together. She finally decided to let him in on the secret. She aimed her staff, now a white scepter, and yelled out her favorite spell: "IMAGINATIO!"

From her scepter came a brilliant liquid-like magic, shimmering like a pool in midafternoon sun, and changing colors faster than a heartbeat. The bolt flew straight into the confused (and now stupefied) yordle, lighting him up as he screamed.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-?"

Lulu giggles poured forth as Veigar stared stunned at himself. His dark blue coat was now white, and yet, not as white as she had expected it. He obviously kept an arsenal of dark status spells up, because he was not in a white frock coat as she had planned. Instead, he was in a white battle mage suit. It had red gauntlets, the hat had a red band of lace running through it, his hat's plume was white, and his dark iron battle axe-staff was now white steel, with a large red ruby replacing the yellow sapphire. And, as his style dictated, everything was covered in spikes, from the lace in his hat, to the shoulder of the battle axe-staff. 

Veigar was split. It was hideously white, and yet he knew he would keep it. It was a perfect fit, in both size and fashion. Yet it was white… but who said that white was owned by the good side? He was the Master of Evil, he would wear what he wished because he was evil. And with that, he decided to name his new outfit his Evil White Mage Uniform. (The League would later drop the Evil for the skin, as that was self-explanatory for anything having to do with Veigar).

He was quite pleased with "his" new fashion statement, when he noticed that his pleasure was revealing itself in a smile, and said smile was aimed directly at the purple yordle. And said yordle was returning his smile with those bright emerald eyes. He quickly dropped his smile and looked away, but when he glanced back, she was still smiling at him. He had to change the topic, preferably to something evil.

"Shall we eat?" NO. That was the opposite of what he was going for. His voice was unavoidably high and loud, but he had failed to even sound aggressive. But he couldn't back down… especially from that smile. Wait, what?

Before he could reprimand himself for his last thought, she skipped lightly over to the table. "We shall!" she declared.

Veigar shuffled over to the table, his grumble dying on his lips as awkwardness took over. He stared at the table, trying to conjure evil thoughts, or something that could turn this situation into something that would befit a Master of Evil. But it kept boiling down to "I'm drinking tea with a lunatic" in his stubborn mind.

However, the tea had not been served yet. Lulu looked around for something to serve as a cook. All the forest animals had been locked out by her white castle. She probably should have made it purple. Then the animals would recognize it. But she felt white more fitting when playing with a dark mage, for no reason in particular.

She looked at Pix, but he was too small, and would serve as a better waiter… or jester. She was about to volunteer herself when she saw a small tan-haired yordle peeking around the back door. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head as he surveyed the room.

She quickly jumped up on the back of her chair, did a pirouette, and aimed her staff. "TRANSMOGRIFY!"

The visitor froze as he was ingulfed by the wisp-like energy. But he did not scream. After the spell ended, she surveyed her work. The small yordle now had black pants, a cooking hat, and a white button-up shirt hidden by an apron. He even had an Italian-style mustache. He made a perfect looking chef. His backpack full of scrolls turned into a backpack with recipe books in it, and his bamboo stick was now a wooden ladle.

He looked over himself, a mixed look of dread and confusion in his eyes. Lulu stole his attention.

"Welcome, my dear chef. Would you like to give us our menus?" She turned her staff to point directly behind Veigar's seat, indicating a serving trolley. Beside it was a pair of double doors, through which one could see parts of a kitchen.

Teemo then decided that he coul not have chosen a worse time. He truly did not know what to make of his new situation. He had found Lulu, only recognizable by her green eyes and use of her unique spell, Transmogrify. But it took him a second to realize that the other white and red yordle was Veigar. He tried to hold back a gulp of fear. He was suddenly thankful for his mustache, as he had lost all of his weapons to the transformation, and even with weapons, a straight fight with Veigar could go either way. He tried his best not to act like a Scout.

Veigar stared quizzically at the new arrival. "Who is this?"

Teemo thought quickly, adopting a french accent. "I am your chef, monsieur. How are we this fine evening?"

It worked. Lucky for him, Veigar had only noticed him after Lulu had cast her spell, so the mage only assumed that the new chef had been created by Lulu.

Lulu turned her attention back to Veigar, as she calmly swept her dress back so as to sit. "So what is your name, my lord and friend?"

Veigar leaned back, flattered by the title "lord". He put on his best officious tone. "I am Veigar, Master of Evil." He then smiled maliciously to try to force the point.

His host seemed confused by his title, but then returned the smile, no hint of fear in her eyes. "Nice to meet you. My name is Lulu."

Veigar nodded for a second, before his brow dropped. "Just Lulu?" Veigar spread his arms. "You must have a larger title if you can create all this." Veigar firmly believed that more power required a longer title.

"Hmmm," she thought aloud. She had never thought of a longer title. "Lulu the Purple!"

Veigar shook his head. "NO! It must describe you and strike fear into hearts!"

Lulu then shook her head in reply. "No, I want to make people happy, and only stop people from getting hurt."

Veigar sighed with frustration, although it sounded forced. "Fine then! Well, what do you want people to hear about you? What is your job, or your specialities?"

"Lulu the Friend?"

Veigar was too busy analyzing her title to think through the statement's implications. "No, no, no. It has to be impressive."

Lulu had a few thousand names she wanted to have, but she was sure few of them would be to Veigar's standards. She was thankful when the chef saved her as he placed their menus in front of them. "Lulu, Magician of the Glade?"

Veigar did not immediately turn it down. He mentally chewed it for a second, his ears flopping one way, then the other, before he finally said, "No! But it sounds close!"

Teemo blinked twice. That was the closest Veigar had ever gotten to complimenting him, and he had been almost certain that Veigar was completely uninclined to compliment anyone over anything.

At this point, Teemo had to admit that Veigar was acting strange, even being flexible. While placing cutlery, he wondered if this kidnapping was actually the best thing to happen to Bandle City in years. One could only hope.

Suddenly, Lulu half jumped out of her seat with her excitement. "Lulu, the Fae Sorceress!"

Veigar's mouth barely curled into a satisfied smile. With the issue resolved, he picked up his menu and began to scan it. Lulu followed sort, finding herself looking at only one appetizer. Although the rest of the menu was full of strange and amazing foods, thanks to Lulu's wide imagination, the only appetizer was "Mushroom Stew".

Oh well, she thought to herself.

They both ordered a bowl each and instantly agreed, once it was served with their tea, that it was the best stew they had ever supped, Lulu the more vocal, and Veigar giving a long list of things he disliked before admitting its perfection, much to the relief of Teemo. Now he only had three more courses to go. After this, he would take a cooking class.

* * *

><p><strong>Credit to Google Translate for the Latin spell names.<strong>

**If you want more chapters, please let me know. I am amazing at procrastination, so any form of encouragement (or helpful criticism) will be appreciated.**

**Also, check out the other VeiLu fanfics if you want to see my inspiration!**

**Til' next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

Tristana shuffled nervously in the undergrowth. Beside her, Lendilia was making daisy chains. They both could see a tall white spire with a red tile roof in the distance.

Lendi glanced over to see Tristana frantically pick up her radio once again, and hiss loudly into it.

"Teemo! Teemo! Come in! Seriously, are you alright?"

The scout noticed that she had stopped calling him captain, or even acting professional in the slightest. She thought about teasing the Megling again over their "relationship," but thought better of it. Tristana seemed way too edgy.

As if in silent agreement, Tristana shuffled once again, checking her ammo for the fifteenth time, looking over all of her equipment, and then resuming her hawklike stare at the trees ahead.

Lendi couldn't blame her though. Teemo almost always sent back at least a ping. Right now all they were getting was static. She kept telling herself that Teemo was perfectly fine, and he would come marching through the undergrowth with Veigar over his shoulder and Lulu kissing the ground in front of him for bravely freeing her from such a sadistic captor.

Her daydreams were broken by Tristana's sudden announcement.

"I'm tired of waiting. Let's go check on him." Not waiting for Lendi, Trist broke into a run directly for the spire.

Behind her, the younger yordle took the time to pack her daisy chain and take a drink of water, before following in her companion's footsteps.

After much stumbling and griping, she broke through the undergrowth into a wide clearing, with a small but regal castle marking its center. The stones were white, and the roofs were red. It had one tall thick tower, a glass atrium in the back, and, in a striking contradiction, a burnt-out shack in the front.

She saw Tristana underneath a window seal, writhing in the grass. Worried that she had been caught in a spell, Lendi dropped her pack and ran to the window. To her chagrin, she found that Tristana had been cursed with a fit of giggles.

The normally very serious yordle was now holding her mouth with one hand and her ribs in the other. She shook and rolled with silent laughter. When she finally spoke, it came out in a squeak. "Look at Teemo!"

Lendi nervously edged up to the window, almost expecting Veigar to pop up. Instead, she found herself looking at the most magnificent kitchen she had ever seen, complete with a bread baking oven, a magical freezing closet, and multiple stoves. Pots and pans of all shapes and sizes hung from the outer walls.

She was so enraptured by her dream kitchen that she almost didn't notice the yordle working away at the marble chopping board. He looked oddly familiar, but she did not realize that she was staring at her scout leader until he turned to put diced mushrooms in a pot on one of the stoves. The moustache looked… gentleman-ly?

She sputtered, then chuckled, then fell back on her rear laughing out loud. She never knew she could even laugh that hard, but then again she had never seen the super-serious scout in anything but his uniform or camouflage.

Her laughing abruptly ended when a heavy weight fell on her.

"Shhhh! Lendi!" she heard Teemo whisper. "Veigar is in there! He's in the dining room through the door."

She immediately froze. An apron came off of her face. Tristana, who was used to tight fixes, remained calm, her face still red as she looked Teemo up and down. Teemo caught her glances and sighed as Trist began to giggle softly.

"I will never hear the end of it."

His best friend reigned in her amusement long enough for a cheerful "Nope."

Lendi was still staring at the kitchen in wonder, but pulled herself away to ask. "So whats going on?"

Teemo took the time to explain, calmly, how he had discovered Lulu free of her bonds and treating the Master of Evil to tea. When both looked skeptically at him, he then described Lulu's strange behavior, and her complete naivety.

"I do think, though, that Veigar respects her for her magical ability. He hasn't come quietly in the slightest. But I do believe that she might be a good influence on him."

"Wonderful," Trist scoffed. "Can we kill Veigar now?"

Lendi and Teemo both opened their mouth to speak, but Trist quickly cut them off. "Yes, yes, I know he's a League champion. But he still kidnapped her."

Teemo didn't respond, but instead brought them inside, and led them to a pair of doors. He softly pushed open one door, allowing them both a peak.

It was a very beautiful dining room, but Lendi still thought the kitchen was better. At the center of a long table in the center of the room sat two very regal-looking yordles, both dressed in white. The girl had semi-frilly gold lace covering her dress, while the male across bore red stripes and spikes. It did not take long to distinguish which was Veigar.

Although, she couldn't see his face, Lendi could tell that Veigar seemed put out. He was scratching his neck awkwardly, as well as gripping his knife like it was glued to him. But he kept both of his glowing eyes on his host, and, strangely, he would respond to her conversation in an uncharacteristically non-aggressive manner (usually). Both Lendi and Tristana raised their eyebrows quizzically. Was this actually the tyrannical and insane Veigar?

Across from him, Lulu kept up a constant string of speech, going high and low, whispering and shouting, as she spoke, her hands dancing in front of her. She would politely pause when Veigar interrupted, but she picked up at the same pace of dialogue after Veigar finished.

It seemed they were talking of the League of Legends, Lulu waxing over how wonderful it sounded.

Lendi felt a tug on her shirt, and she turned to see a very troubled Tristana and thoughtful Teemo. Teemo had that expression on whenever he had a plan. After a moment he voiced it.

"Alright. I have no weapons due to this transformation spell, but Veigar doesn't know who I am. Lulu's costume fooled him. I just need to hold a low profile. I am finishing the appetizer right now."

"What is it?" Lendi interrupted.

"Mushroom stew," Teemo answered without hesitation.

"Of course!" she mumbled under her breath. Teemo did not hear though, and continued to explain.

"Now I will need help with the main course. After that, I will need to return to duties back at Bandle. However, this is our first opportunity to have someone on the inside who can keep tabs on Veigar. They could take my place as cook, so preferably someone with skills as a chef."

"Is that safe, though?" Lendi piped up.

"I don't believe Veigar will kill his own source of homemade food. He's a bit too selfish for that. Also, whoever does take this role can note down all they observe and leave it where I can come pick it up."

"A journal is inconspicuous," Trist suggested.

Lendi did a double take. She was sure the Megling would be fully against this plan, seeing as she only wanted Veigar in a prison or six feet under.

Teemo stroked his moustache subconsciously as he considered the idea. He stopped when Lendi began giggling. When he finally spoke, he kept his eyes on the youngest yordle.

"Hmm. I actually think that's an excellent idea, Trist. Said person can casually write in their journal, but leave hints… maybe even write in the margins in invisible ink. However, if anything goes wrong, we should leave a com nearby so that they can quickly phone for help if need be." At this, Tristana gave a questioning glance at Teemo, obviously despising the idea of calling for back-up. Teemo casually glanced back, and they had a silent conversation with their eyes.

Lendilia was confused as to what the secret was, until she saw Tristana give her a very peculiar glance.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no! I am not being your little spy. No way! ESPECIALLY not for-" she realized how loud she was being and dropped her voice down, pointing towards the doors. "-not for Veigar! I mean, I'm already employed."

Teemo gave her an apologetic look, which probably meant she was being ordered to. He spoke softly.

"Lendi, I can't spare any other yordles. Most others have irreplaceable jobs. And I appreciate what you do, you're a great messenger, but there are many other junior scouts waiting for this position. And I can tell that you want something more. I'll even talk the mayor into giving you a raise."

Lendi opened her mouth to protest, that she didn't want a raise, not even a million dollars, because she wanted to remain with the scouts. Because she fully understood that this was something totally different.

But the words never came. She realized this would be her first and probably her only promotion since joining the Scouts of the Mothership. And a messenger isn't a usual job for a 23-year-old scout. She was simply horrible at fighting, couldn't find the heart to be stern, and was the loudest yordle in the city. She needed something else if she wanted to make a difference. But she couldn't help but feel like she was being fired. And, to top it all off, forced to live with a maniac, a powerful dark mage.

Teemo read her watering eyes, and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I know what you think this is. You're still one of my Scouts. Just you need to act like a cook. Alright." He used his other hand to wipe away one of her tears, before quickly becoming more firm. "And quickly, seeing as I've been 'making stew' for the last fifteen minutes, and I haven't even started cooking it yet. And they are still waiting on tea."

The alarming information filtered slowly in Lendi's mind, as she breathed in slowly, and wiped the tears from her eyes. She wanted to argue this. But she knew Teemo was right. She could get to the tearful goodbyes later. Right now, she needed to save Teemo.

"Okay," she said slowly, more to herself than anyone. "Trist, if you could make the tea. Make sure to put the tea bags in _after_ you've poured in the boiling water. Teemo, if you could finish the stew. I'll begin the main courses."

The three of them scattered to their duties. Lendi grabbed a large pie dish, while Trist ran and opened the pantry door, seeking tea leaves. She froze and stared. Lendi, needing some ingredients, ran over and looked for whatever Trist saw. She too froze.

Teemo was the last to join them, his stew currently simmering. He looked down the stairs, at the large casks of drinks, the rows upon rows of cheeses, the crates of veggies, and the barrels of nuts, and wondered what the girls were staring at. It all looked wonderful, but he failed to see what caught their eye.

"They asked for three courses."

* * *

><p>Tristana poured out three bowls of stew, and put a piece of summer vegetable pie on each plate, as well as some pomegranate seeds and cherries. She then took the three plates, balancing the bowls of stew on top, and carried them to an open counter where two stools and a stack of crates rested. She set them all down, then jumped onto the makeshift crate seat.<p>

It all smelled wonderful, but it was only a sample of what Veigar and Lulu had. It turned out that Lendi's father was a chef, so her new job was perfect for her. But Tristana didn't say that. She still knew that Lendi wanted to return home. However it was far too late to find another replacement now.

She was joined a few bites into her meal by Lendi, who had been cleaning up the kitchen, and placing the leftovers in the freezing closet. She sounded tired.

"There are strange white puff-balls with eyes and horns in the freezing closet-"

Tristana suddenly squealed and jumped off of her stool. She soon returned with one of her favorite creatures in her arms, setting it on her lap while she ate. Lendi edged away in her stool. Tristana only laughed.

"They're called Poros, Lendi, and they're harmless. I guess Lulu added them to the freezing closet to give the place some life."

Lendi looked around at the large kitchen. "It does seem to be quite a large and empty castle." She sighed, picking at her food with a fork.

Tristana opened her mouth to give some encouragement, when Teemo returned from serving dessert. He hopped up onto his stool on the other side of Tristana's crates, and gratefully began to dig into Lendi's cooking.

"Good job on the plum and hazelnut pastries, Lendi. After all they've eaten, they still found room for those. I might take one with me later."

Tristana quickly changed the subject from leaving. "What are they talking about?"

Teemo swallowed his mouthful of pie. "Well, they were just talking about Lulu's past. She says she entered the Glade when she was seventeen during the time that Abracus was mayor."

Tristana's eyes went wide. She did some quick mental math. "THE Abracus?! But that was hundreds of years ago! Before the rune wars!"

Lendi came out of her shell to join the conversation. "How is that possible? She looks my age!"

"Have you noticed her shoes?" Teemo asked calmly.

"The curly ones?"

"Yeah," Tristana said slowly, her mind connecting dots. "They look almost exactly like what you see in the old paintings of the pre-Rune Wars societies, before Bandle had walls or defences. Come to think of it, this castle reflects some of the older architecture styles. I noticed earlier that it looks like the old Meeting House."

"Exactly. The Glade, somehow, has different rules for time, if it has rules at all. Lulu said she isn't really sure herself. She just knows that when she returned, her family and friends were gone. And her city was surrounded by walls and gun towers."

Tristana felt a pang of sympathy run through her. She couldn't imagine the pain of returning home to find everything different, and your own family gone for hundreds of years.

Teemo carried on, his unoccupied hand drifting over to scratch the Poro's head. "Now, however, they are talking about Veigar's magic. She tried to learn about _his_ past, but he remained silent on it."

"Blast!" cursed Tristana. Bandle City's profile of Veigar had a very big hole, specifically who he was before he arose as a dark mage. A group of curious yordles once journeyed to discover more, but were never seen again.

"He did talk about dark magic, and how it's superior, et cetera, et cetera."

"What type of magic does Lulu use?" asked Lendi.

Teemo looked down thoughtfully. "I… don't know. That would be a good thing to research. I have heard of a specific type of magic used by the Fae, but I'm not sure what it is, or if Lulu uses it. Whatever the case, she is an immensely powerful mage."

"Ya think?" Lendi indicated the castle with a wave of her finger.

Right on cue, they heard a gigantic "IMAGINATIO!" from the dining room. All three rushed to the door, peering through the gap.

Lulu stood, an arm and leg outstretched gracefully behind her, as she balanced on top of her chair, her staff outstretched towards the burnt-out shack. At first, no one knew what had changed. But then Teemo pointed to the right and murmured softly: "That door used to be a burnt crisp."

All six sets of eyes (Veigar, pix, and the poro included) examined the door. Now it matched the castle, with white paint, and a glass window set in it, the glass stained red in certain spots to make the shape of a rose.

Veigar approached the door and looked it up and down. A soft grumbling was heard (probably about the rose) before he pushed the door open and went inside. He came back a moment later, his yellow eyes shining with something akin to satisfaction. However, he led with a complaint.

"You could have added some REAL weapons, you know."

Lulu huffed and dropped back in her seat. "No. I think spades and rakes do better things than swords and-"

Veigar interrupted, pretending not to hear. "HOWEVER, it fits my needs, and is far more pleasing to the eye than that burnt-out piece of-" He stopped there, obviously stopping some crude language before it escaped.

The chivalrous response, or lack-of, did not go unnoticed by five of the listeners -the poro having fallen asleep.

"You're welcome, Veigar!" Lulu announced.

"Now, I have _greatly_ enjoyed your company," said Veigar sarcastically. Oblivious, Lulu smiled wider. "However the sun is setting soon, and I'm sure you would like to get to the Institute without walking."

He walked over to his seat and picked up his battle staff. He closed his eyes, concentrating for a second, before aiming at Lulu.

"Remain still please. I am not very proficient with neutral magic, but I can't get you through their arcane shield with dark magic. I should be teleporting you somewhere near the front steps of the Institute."

The front of his staff glowed. Lulu waved her hand as blue rings constricted about her.

"Cya in a month, Vei—"

With a buzz of magic, Lulu disappeared. Veigar cackled to himself. "Like in the main fountain. Hopefully she wont _enjoy_ that…" With a curse and an "Oh well" he turned to face the back atrium, his eyes quickly regaining their glee. "Now to explore the rest of my new EVIL lair."

Please, not the kitchen, thought Trist.

Thankfully, he first stomped off to a door directly across from the kitchen. She guessed he wanted to see the castle from the outside. Obviously pleased, he came back inside with an extra swagger to his step. He then turned right, to the atrium.

She felt a tug, and retreated to the kitchen with a sigh of relief.

"He probably doesn't really care what's in the kitchen," Teemo assured them. "So we should be good for now."

Trist knew Teemo had spied for long periods of time on Veigar before, and knew his mannerisms. But she grabbed Teemo's hand and began to drag him, always prepared for the worst.

"I don't want to take any chances."

She suddenly felt Teemo pull himself loose, and she looked back to see a very tearful Lendi. Instantly regretting her haste, she ran over and gave the pitiful yordle a soft hug, holding the awakened poro against her back. Lendi instantly put her head into the Megling's shoulder pauldron, and began to sob harder. Behind her the poro rubbed into the strings of her apron, purring softly.

Trist spoke slowly. "It's ok. It's alright, Lendi. You'll do fine. Veigar may be evil, but he wont hurt you just because he can. I don't think he kills innocents either."

Teemo also threw in some encouragement. "He does seem to have a small sense of decency. He'll be gone for most of the year as a League Champion, and when he's back, you'll probably only see him at meal times. He likes to read his books more than anything."

"I hear he's got a hidden library with hundreds of books in it, and he has only read a quarter of them. He will probably bring them here to read, so you better write down what you see. Okay?"

Lendi nodded into her shoulder, then pulled back and wiped her eyes with a hand. "Okay. I-I'll try!"

Teemo nodded officiously to her, then turned to Tristana. "Where did you say you saw my uniform?"

"Down in the pantry, next to the fungi."

In full scout mode again, he nodded once more, ignoring the jab, and jogged towards the pantry door. A few moments later he returned in his tan uniform, and handed Lendi the chef outfit. She then turned to change, herself, but Teemo stopped her with a question.

"Where did you leave your scout bag?"

Lendi looked around then suddenly said, "Oh yeah! When I saw Tristana laughing, I thought she was in trouble, so I dropped it. It should be in the field out there." She pointed out the window, then turned and ran into the pantry.

Tristana chuckled and shook her head. Lendi would definitely make a better cook than a scout. She noticed Teemo giving her a reproving glare.

"What?" she asked.

"It's not nice to laugh when someone else is in a predicament," Teemo said huffily.

At first she thought he meant Lendi, but quickly realized he was referring to earlier. "Hey! I never even dreamed I would see you in a moustache."

Teemo sighed loudly, before asking tentatively, "How do I look?"

Tristana laughed. He was only ever this relaxed around her, or in a bar. "Please don't ever wear one again!" The poro in her arms nodded.

Teemo gave her a mock scowl, then returned to his controlled behavior when Lendi came clomping up the wooden pantry stairs. He ran out the window and grabbed her bag, and returned quickly, holding it by one of its straps. He took out a communicator, a knife, and a short blowpipe with several darts. Reaching into his own dart pouch, he threw a couple more in her ammo bag.

"Blue ones are sleepers, green are blind, orange are weak poison, and black is fatal poison. Remember that. I'll return with some invisible ink, a normal ink 'n' quill, and a journal soon."

Tristana stepped over and gave Lendi a sisterly kiss on the cheek. "Be good!" She passed her the poro. "And take care of Mr. Cuddles for me." She would miss Lendi, that was for sure. But she also understood the necessity of her mission.

Teemo gave her the equipment, giving a final warning. "Hide that stuff well. And don't ever read any of his books."

With that they both jumped over the windowsill.

* * *

><p>Veigar looked out from his high window, chuckling maliciously. This castle, with the right amount of dark magic, could become an insurmountable fortress. Insurmountable. He needed to write that word down. It would sound extremely daunting in his next evil speech.<p>

Where was he? Oh, yes, his fortress. His eyes scanned the distant horizon, and he imagined armies marching across it to try to stop his tyrannous rule. And Noxian standard would fly beside Demacian flag. All would kneel equally, or perish equally.

His eyes lowered lovingly to his own castle. The burnt warehouse on the front was now a barracks, due to Lulu's magic. Veigar had requested it so that the whole structure was uniform in style. He would have to replace all of the gardening utensils with real weapons and his battle outfits. His normal dark blue outfit was behind him on his bed, where he had found it. He sorely wanted to burn the smelly thing and simply get a new one.

But first, Veigar needed to do some work. He hated manual labor, so he would require assistance.

He walked down the long yordle-sized staircase to the kitchen, only to find a monstrous bakery and cuisine. The cook was rummaging around in a cabinet.

"CHEF!" he called. The chef spun around. To his surprise, instead of a furry and mustachioed tan yordle, it was a blue female yordle with wide light blue eyes (female yordles have no fur).

"Who are you?" he asked, more curious than suspicious.

"S-s-sorry," she stuttered hesitantly, "th-the original chef s-said that he was going to disappear since he was… part of Lulu's spell. A-and… he went to Bandle City to find a replacement. And yeah-!"

"And he chose you?" Veigar interrupted. He noticed the line of sweat running down her temple, as well as the slight shake of her knees. He enjoyed being feared, but but he had to be sure that she wasn't afraid of something she was hiding. He drew his white battle staff from around his back, looking at it admiringly for a second, before swinging it at her. "ABSTERGO!"

She cringed, but did not draw any weapons. The orange magic flew by harmlessly, only removing the light highlights from her lavender hair. He nodded, content that she had reacted like any commoner, and that her fear was completely devoted to his prowess.

"I will test your cooking skills, later, peasant. First, I must move all of my tomes from back there," he pointed back with his free arm towards the new barracks, "to there." He turned to point at his library. "And I require assistance."

He almost left then, but suddenly remembered his other books. "Ah, and I also need all of these books moved, too." He flourished his staff towards an open area in the kitchen. A portal split open, and the smell of books and dust wafted between its neon purple border. Inside were hundreds of ethereal bookshelves, every single one full of books.

He faintly smirked when her eyes widened and her ears dropped, both in awe and in dread.

Behind the windowsill, Teemo and Tristana winced at Lendi's task, but were satisfied with her performance. More importantly, Veigar trusted her.

"Maybe we should have given her a cover story before leaving," whispered Tristana.

"She didn't do _that_ bad," Teemo retorted.

She poked him in the ribs, before both ran back towards Bandle. Lendi would be just fine.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lulu felt gravity begin to take effect again as the teleport spell finished. As soon as the light disappeared, a heavy cold force hit her right in the face. Gasping, she stepped back, but her feet slipped on a wet surface.

She opened her eyes to find herself staring at a large blue sky, and in that split second of peace, she noticed the magical forcefield. Suddenly, her back splashed into a shallow flat stream, moving downwards quickly. Flicking her head to the side, she watched marble stairs fly past. Looking "down", she noticed a fountain quickly receding. Looking up, she saw an upside down pool of water flying towards her.

With barely enough time to grab a breath, she entered head first into the chilly water. She splashed around a bit, before opening her eyes once more, to find herself in a very shallow puddle that couldn't even drown a tulip. With that in mind, she thrashed about with greater intensity, screaming dramatically, "Help, Pix!"

The young fae broke the surface at the edge of the pool, having only been inundated by a few centimeters. It coolly took the time to dry off its wings with its hands, not even glancing at the sorceress.

Lulu tried to give her friend a glare, saying with mock seriousness, "You're a horrible lifeguard!" Her attempts ended when she burst out laughing. The day was wonderful as usual.

After a moment, she realized her laughter was accompanied by a high-pitched giggle. Turning to find her onlooker, she spotted a queer yordle with red hair and pigtales standing near the edge of the pool. Her skin was the color of a sandcastle, and her ears were flat and round. In her arms she held an ragged teddy bear.

Lulu realized that this must actually be a human. She had never met one before, she had only heard of them or caught glimpses of them in the market area on Saturdays. She remembered them being taller.

Deciding she liked the girl anyway, she smiled her "Nice to meet you" smile, and said, "Hi, I'm Lulu the Friend… no, wait." Her smile disappeared for a second as she tried to recall her new title.

The girl only giggled, as she twisted slowly back and forth, her arms wrapped protectively around the stuffed animal.

Finally, Lulu's smile returned. She flourished her staff and proclaimed to her audience. "I am Lulu, the Fae Sorceress!" She exclaimed the last bit while twirling then landing in a graceful one-footed splash.

Another giggle was all she received, but the girl gave back an equally enthusiastic address. "Hi, my name's Annie! And this is my bear Tibbers! Do you wanna play with me?"

Lulu needed no encouragement. "YES! Let's go!" She grabbed her hat from where it fell into the pool, and ran up the long set of stairs. She reached the top and froze, eyes wide.

Before her was a mountain-sized structure, flanked by white marble columns. Behind that stood towering dark-grey stone doors that barred entrance to the building. And past a roof of red tile and balconies rose a massive achievement of engineering and, which Lulu recognized magi-tecture. Gigantic turrets defied physics on foundations of thin curved columns, elevators floated diagonally from building to building on flowing aquamarine magic, and high towers of seamless stone dropped waterfalls down to pools perched on terraces and verandas.

Although Lulu preferred tree houses, she made sure to entertain a healthy appreciation of modern architecture.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. She turned to look directly into two green eyes. "Whatcha' lookin' at?"

Lulu rose her finger to point at a particularly large center tower, but Annie, uninterested, suddenly turned towards the stream of water that ran down the center of the stairs. Without hesitation, she jumped in and screamed her way down into the shallow pool, holding Tibbers on her lap.

Immediately forgetting the giant building, she jumped in after her new friend.

After two rides down Lulu decided to add an embellishment or two. When Annie next jumped onto the "slide", Lulu aimed her staff at the receding figure. "Zippy!"

Annie screamed all the louder as she shot down the slope. However, her fast descent meant a more sudden stop.

"Owww!"

Lulu's smile receded as she saw Annie stand up and rub her posterior. She immediately slid down, screaming, "Sorry!"

Annie looked up a moment too late as Lulu bowled the girl over. They both collapsed giggling. After a moment, Annie abruptly stopped and sat up.

"The pool's not deep enough. We need to find a better slide."

Lulu nodded, her imaginative mind immediately jumping from idea to idea like a squirrel after too many cupcakes. Her final decision was simple… to her.

Turning to Annie, she said, "Try it again! I have an idea."

Annie immediately obliged, and a moment later came flying back down. Lulu was careful to step out of the water before aiming her staff down at the pool. Her face scrunched in concentration as she took a moment to envision her idea. Then she cast her spell.

"IMAGINATIO!"

Magic flowed from her staff into the pool. Annie screamed as she suddenly sped up. Around her the small water attraction changed as magic spread over it.

She landed at the bottom to find herself now submerged a full Tibbers and a half, soaking the bottom of her shirt where she sat. And the water looked like a living rainbow, different colors swimming around each other.

She yelped as she felt something slide against her bare toes. Lulu giggled with Annie when both saw the miniature dolphins (inspired by a picture book Lulu had seen), with extra large eyes, mouths open in a smile, and, so they could be seen, always an opposite color from the water around it.

Annie spent a moment more watching them, before getting out. She climbed back up to find the fountain itself different. It had changed from a blue spray to a looping multicolored snake, as flowers and small birds would randomly shoot out of the base and flutter or fly around the fountain. And when the water landed, it sped up significantly, still a rainbow of colors.

Lulu watched Annie's eyes fill up with excitement, and he heart filling up with the contented feeling of a job well done.

Lulu and Annie enjoyed the new and improved water feature until the sun began to drop behind the sky. Lulu eventually climbed out, remembering her mission. She sat on the stairs to dry, and watched Annie, who sat in the pool, catching dolphins to pet them.

The sun had fully set when a weird clacking noise approached from behind Lulu. She wondered who was trying to imitate a grandfather clock, and if she could join them. She turned to do so, but was disappointed to find that it was only some shoes with spiky heels walking towards her. Her gaze traveled up some long purple robes to find a sharp face and sharper blue eyes looking her up and down. It was a full-sized human.

Lulu took a minute to decide how she felt about this person. She _looked_ as tall as a grandfather clock, and seemed about as excited as one. _Too tall. Much too tall. _However, Lulu knew never to read a clock by its face, and opened her mouth in a huge smile. "Hiya!"

The smile was half-returned by the stranger, amusement softening her eyes a touch. "Good evening. I see Annie has made a new friend."

Lulu turned her head to see the other child human turn and wave. "Hi, Ms. Kolminee!"

A sigh caused Lulu to wip her head back around. "I also see that you are both soaking wet, and you've made some modifications to the fountain."

Lulu was glad her work was appreciated. "Yup! You should taste it. I made the top taste like plums and the bottom taste like chocolate."

A gasp went up behind her from Annie, who immediately scrambled out of the pool to gulp down the water flowing at the bottom.

The stranger in front of her winced, and placed a hand on her brow. She mumbled something, but Lulu only heard "sugar rush". She hoped she hadn't caused any trouble.

"Is anything wrong, Ms. Comini?"

The woman took a breath and dropped the hand. "No, nothing is wrong. I'm sure we can cope." She looked down at the girl. "By the way, Annie, Amumu's waiting at the garden for you."

"Alright! Coming!"

Annie picked herself up, and ran up the stairs, but stopped to scoop up some plum flavored juice in her palms, tucking Tibbers under an elbow. Comini waited for her to run through the large doors – which opened automatically for Annie – before turning back to Lulu. "Now, I'm sure you didn't come all this way to redecorate my stairs, did you?"

Lulu gasped. "Your stairs? Is this your house? Wow! This is amazing! Oh, by the way, do you know where the Institute of War is?"

The half smile returned to the stranger. "_This_ is the Institute of War. I am a High Councilor, Vessaria Kolminye." She put stress on the last name, then looked the young yordle up and down. "This is not really _my _house, but it is where I live. What might your name be?"

Lulu presented her most dashing grin, and stood up to pose once more. "I am Lulu, the Fae Sorceress!" Inside, she self-congratulated herself for getting her title right.

The stranger eyed her curiously for a second, before smiling knowingly. "So I assume you are here to become a Champion?"

Lulu's mouth dropped once more. "Wow! That's incredible! And yes, I REALLY wanna be a champion here. So… can I?" She grinned even wider for good effort.

"I don't choose who becomes a champion Lulu. But I can definitely discover if you have the right skills, and more importantly, the right heart. Come, your first test is to walk through those doors."

She turned and pointed at the stone doors, which had six strange glowing runes, three per door.

Lulu guessed it would be easy. So, in preparation, she stretched her arms up high, then touched her toes, then ran at the doors yelling.

"OPEEEEN!"

A few meters before she reached them, the symbols changed from blue to purple, and the doors slowly pulled inwards, silently. Lulu's dash slid to a stop as she watched in awe and slowly growing excitement.

When they were finally parallel to each other, Lulu marched through triumphantly, before setting both feet down just inside the doors. She closed her eyes and raised her fists into the air.

"I DID IT!"

Thunderous applause greeted this statement. She opened her eyes to see a cavernous lobby area, and, inside, at least a hundred purple-robed creatures, yordles and humans alike, all clapping… for her.

She felt a blush take her cheeks. She preferred a warning of when she would have an audience. But that didn't mean she disliked the attention. She stood up straight and then bowed low for her admirers, her hat falling from her head once more. Pix, being afraid of large crowds, immediately dove for the newly provided cover.

As the applause ended, she picked up the clacking sound of Ms. Kolminye's shoes echoing behind her.

"Well done. These doors only open for summoners, champions, or creatures with the potential to be champions."

"So I'm a champion now?"

"No, there is one more test to see _if_ you are a champion. Once a champion, there is more to do."

Lulu nodded officiously, and immediately strode off into the center of the lobby, towards a random fountain. She was stopped by Ms. Kolminye's shout behind her.

"Lulu. This way."

The Councilor was pointing towards a small solitary door to her left, in the corner of the lobby, which had a sign reading "Judgments" above it.

As Lulu scampered past her, Vessaria intoned solemnly, "Careful, Lulu. This test is far harder."

* * *

><p>Black as ink? Black as the middle of the eye? Black as fear? No, she wasn't afraid. She was curious. That's all. Why was the room completely black? Why couldn't she see the door behind her? How could she see herself so well if the room was dark?<p>

A sudden burst of light caused the small yordle to yelp. It took her a second to realize she'd closed her eyes out of fear. Opening her eyes, she found herself on a side walk under a blue sky, with apartments all around her. It was the new and strange Bandle City. The one with high walls, and lots of noise and bright lights. Had she been teleported?

In all of the noise of weird self-moving boxes and people shouting, she heard a very familiar cough behind her. Fear and all of its queasiness gripped her stomach as she slowly turned around. Two beady grey eyes met her green ones.

"Where is my Timmy?"

It wasn't a friendly question. It was cold and accusing. It was Timmy's mother. It was the same as _that _day, and she gave her original response.

"He… he's just playing with me 'n' Pix…" she stammered, her eyes turning away from the stony glare.

Wait, hadn't she already found Timmy? Or was the day repeating itself? Or was this a nightmare?

She tried to pinch herself, but found herself rooted to the spot, staring into the set jowl of a very angry face. She wasn't able to look the woman in the eyes. Or in the eyes of any of the other angry yordle mothers and fathers behind her.

"I SAID I want to know WHERE my Timmy is!"

A myriad of voices chimed in, all condemning her. But it had just been a game. They were happy! Timmy had been laughing; they all had.

"He… he's a chipmunk. And I haven't found him yet. B-but we're playing hide'n—"

The chin in front of her dropped open, although it definitely wasn't a smile.

"WHAT?! WHY IS TIMMY A CHIPMUNK?"

She would have giggled at that statement if she wasn't afraid. It sounded funny hearing it again. But she was very afraid, both when it happened and now, mainly of the mothers shouting. So instead, tears threatened to broach her eyes.

"How and WHY?"

"It's just a game, I promise! I thought it would be fun if we all played hide'n'seek together!" A tear gathered in her left eye.

"But WHY IS HE A CHIPMUNK?"

Her mouth said one thing while her mind thought another. "It's not permanent! I just changed him into one so he could—"

_"__Please no! Don't interrupt! Lemme explain! I don't wanna lea—"_

"WITCH! IT'S A WITCH AND SHE'S CURSED MY CHILD!"

One father nodded to another, and they moved forward, grabbing the cloth of her shoulders and pulling her roughly off of her feet. She looked up scowls and angry grumblings. She didn't remember _her_ father being like that.

All the while she was being screamed and clawed at by distraught mothers. Tall buildings went by as blurs, as the tears began to fall. This wasn't home anymore. She was going to be banished. She remembered.

The mayor had sad blue eyes as he placed the spell over her. His words grated both through her ears and her memory as they uttered her fate. "You may not return to Bandle ever again, nor enter through its gates. Go in peace."

Suddenly the world skipped forward to a bright blue sky, outside high white walls. They were covered in cannons. Tears spilled freely down her face. She sat in the dust, in the middle of the path, right outside the gate. She had mumbled a wavering spell, returning all of the yordle girls and boys back to their human form. But she would never see any of their smiling faces again.

It was the second time she'd cried in months. But she remembered what her mother had told her. If you're sad or afraid, tell someone so the feelings can leave. So she had stood up, walked to the wall, and started a conversation with someone cleaning a cannon. She recalled feeling a lot better afterwards, even beginning to skip down the path.

But the world around her once again went dark, before lighting up to a very familiar sunrise. It was the first time she'd cried that day. She had just come out of the Glade, and she wanted to know where her family was. She knew she had been in there a while, but had yet to learn how long. Everything looked different, except the Post Office.

The grey-furred yordle in front of her chuckled softly. "Anna… mother of Lulu, the missing child? The child disappeared before the Rune Wars. I'm sorry, but Anna and everyone she is related to has been gone for hundreds of years."

…Not everyone. Her daughter was right here, and she wanted to go home.

But she had gone home, only to find it beneath a skyscraper. Her front porch where her father relaxed on weekends was now a stone pavement.

And then she had stumbled to the cemetery, to discover a few hundred more graves than she remembered. And the grave in front of her father's parents, per tradition, had the resting places of their three children, their wives beside them. The names were long faded, but she knew by the barely visible daisies carved into the stone that her mother had designed her own grave. Her older brother hadn't been as artistic. But they all had warm hugs and big smiles.

That was the first time she had cried since she entered the Glade. The first time in six hundred years. And now she was crying again as the world went black one more time.

"No more," She mumbled. "Please…"

"Lulu?"

Her head snapped to the left, to glue to a woman in a dress quite like hers. "Mom?"

She crossed the distance between them in a heartbeat. Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks as she held her mother. And she cried into her mother's shoulder for what felt like ten minutes, before realizing her mother was hugging her back. But it was cold.

She pulled back and blinked away some of her tears. "Mother?"

"Why do you want to join the League, Lulu?"

She sniffed before looking at their facing curled shoes.

"I don't like the cannons on the walls, mother. I don't like the walls. I hate how this world has changed. How little girls can't play with magic without being called mean things. Where everyone is afraid of magic." She whispered this as tears resumed. "How nobody can trust each other anymore. If Veigar is right, and this is the place where wars end and peace starts, I wanna be a part of it. I want a home!"

It was then that she noticed the sharp blue eyes in the older yordle's face. The eyes seemed extremely familiar, and not because they belonged to the kindest yordle in the world. Her mother's eyes were green.

"Ms. Kolminye?"

"Well done, Lulu." The illusion of Lulu's mother turned into smoke, which grew into the tall robed human. "You have passed." She knelt and extended a hand to the small yordle. "Welcome home."

Lulu took it, and pulled it to herself. She didn't need a grade right now. She needed a shoulder to cry on.

* * *

><p>Outside the doors, a summoner in purple robes waited. He was bored enough to be mumbling every single third tier stasis spell known to man. This was both an exhaustive list and a great achievement. Very few men knew even the first three, let alone all two hundred and sixty two.<p>

He was eighteen spells away from finishing when the doors suddenly rumbled open. Out of it came his superior and friend, Vessaria. There was a wet smudge on her robes at the shoulder. Holding tight onto her hand was a small yordle girl, looking no older than Tristana.

Upon seeing Marcus, Vessaria called, "Tissue, please, Marcus."

Marcus dug into his inner pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. Taking it, Vessaria rubbed the young yordle's eyes and then gave it to her to clean her nose.

Marcus waited until she was done blowing to give his condolences. "I'm sorry young one. Not everyone is cut out for the Fields of Justice." He was trying his best to console yet another day's failure.

He cringed under Vessaria's quick retort. "She succeeded, Marcus. You are looking at the next Champion."

Marcus's confusion was quickly replaced by elation. He had trained the last seven champions, but he had watched hundreds fail. So seeing an aspiring young individual pass made his week.

However, the young red-eyed yordle in front of him looked far from champion material. He had seen some strange champions, and trained everything from an armored bear to a living diving suit. All had the spark of battle in their eyes. The only thing he saw in this yordle's eyes were tears.

Vessaria saw Marcus's look, and, assuming he was confused as to her blubbering, leaned over and whispered, "She has a hard past."

"Who doesn't here?" he mumbled back. However, he looked forward to underestimating Lulu. He opened his mouth to give her a formal invitation to the League, when Vessaria cut in before him.

"Save the introductory training for tomorrow. She needs a good meal and a good night's rest. As do _you_, Summoner Marcus."

He nodded respectfully to the Councilor, before turning to face her, opening his mouth once again to introduce Lulu formally, when his boss cut in again.

"Saved your monologue for then, as well." She gave him a glare that said, _not here_.

He sighed regretfully, but took the small yordle's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Come on. Let's get something to eat."

"Will other people be there?" whispered the girl.

"Of course."

Her eyes brightened, and a small smile took to her face. The smile looked much better on this yordle.

"By the way, what's your name?"

Her smile stretched further as she turned to look at him, announcing proudly.

"I'm Lulu. The Fae Sorceress!" 

_And now I'm a Champion._

* * *

><p><strong>END NOTES<strong>

**So yeah, why'd this take so long? Well it's because I hate hurting Lulu, and yes, my characters are very real to me. So I stalled and stuff. Sorry!**


	5. Dear Diary, grammar is overrated

"Dear Diary,

Today is my second day on the job. As Veigar's cook, of course. I am so glad he likes my food. Even if he pretends not to, he eats it really fast. It's weird though. This morning, he couldn't make up his mind about who would eat first. He sat down, and made me stand while he picked up his fork. But he didn't even take a bite. He stopped, looked at me weird, and then asked me to get my own food. And he sat and watched while I ate at the table. I thought he was gonna kill me if I ate wrong or something. Then he said he was getting hungry watching me, and that he didn't care about _poison _(at first I was offended, but then realized he meant real poison). He muttered some spell over the apple pancakes and then dug in. (I sorta wish he did that in the first place)

I'm sorry I didn't write in this yesterday, by the way, I was so tired after moving ALL OF VEIGARS BOOKS from his "bareks"(?) and this weird portal thingy. They had some weird names, like "The Ethereal Zone of Mind-casting" and "Five Ways to Illusion-cloak Spells". However, I picked up one book that said something about recipes, but I know I'm not supposed to read the books so I ignored it completely.

Oh, but its really cool! Veigar has this weird podium thing at the front of the library. All he has to do is walk up the steps, stand on the platform, and say a "searching-word" or a title, and all books with that title or word magically FLY towards him and float in front of the podium. When Veigar was grabbing some books, which he said I "probably should not touch", I tried out the library myself. I said "poros" and five books came up, including one called "Transforming Harmless Into Harmful" – it was so cool (I mean the podium is cool. When I sent them away, they acted all sad and flopped around as they floated back! I laughed so hard that Veigar shouted at me to stop playing with his books. But I must have made a sad face, cuz then he said I only had to make sure I didn't get any books from one certain section, but if I was bored I could borrow ("WHILE MAKING SURE NOT TO RIP THEM OR GET ANY GREASE OR FOOD ON ANY OF THE PAGES OR I'LL blah blah blah") some of the books. But I'm not going to borrow books because that is bad. Right? Yeah. He really likes his books though, and muttered alot after he said that.

So yeah. I just served lunch, and I think he is not being as mean since I he likes my food. He eats it really fast. But he's still mean for making me carry all of his books, and for not letting me leave to grab some stuff, like MY books, my family pictures, my art supplies, and my favorite blanket. Because I'd really like that stuff and Veigar probably wont notice if it randomly appears. He doesn't usually come in the kitchen anyway unless its to demand something.

Tomorrow though, he said we will be making some "changes" to the castle, mostly the interior, although he talks sometimes to himself, and I heard something about a portal and dark magic booby traps. I asked him if I had to escape how I would not get hit by the booby traps. He acted like he wasn't making traps, but then he muttered a spell over me, and said I could walk through the barrier, but he would know. Not that I care that much. It's just I like walking in the middle of the night and stuff. And I told him that. He said he didn't care as long as I came back in thirty minutes (I think that's how far away Bandle City is so it's sorta smart actually).

But yeah, that's all for now. I don't really know how to end a journal thing so..

Lendi out!

_Invisble stuff: Teemo, when I go to take my "walk" I will drop the journal by a tree, and I'll leave the scout sign on the tree, so you don't run into any of the traps. Then every night I will come back and write some more in it. Alright bye! Tell my family I love them but don't tell them I'm working for Veigar cuz they might freak out. OK bye!_

_P.S. Haven't you found it weird that you can't see Veigar's face, you know, his fur? I tried during lunch but it's like he doesn't have one. And he pushed me back by my face when I began to spill my soup. Hehe, oops._

* * *

><p><strong>All spelling and grammar errors are intentional, or will be once found =P <strong>**No, this is not a _real_ chapter, it's just this short cuz I like the style of having the diary entry separate from the story. Is this cool? Weird? Lemme know.**

**And I finally has reviews! TY MissBaggins007 and guest for letting me know that I'm not writing complete garbage. And I will be updating as fast as time permits. College is almost over, so I can get to do more writing. I have some plans for these yordles... muahahaha!**

**Jebinnam out!**


	6. Chapter 5

A young woman was digging into a bowl of Ionian porridge. Her white hair fell in tangles down her back, and her crimson eyes stared into her bowl with a tiredness only a wanderer new. Her thoughts were treading all the paths she had once taken.

"IMAGINATIO!"

Her mind retuned to reality with a sudden jolt. Her hand snapped to her broken sword on the bench beside her as her eyes scanned the area. It wasn't hard to notice growing spread of magic over the ceiling.

She watched as the stars suddenly began to glow different shades of blue and purple, while others began to slowly move, their lights beginning to spin. A small smile touched the corners of Riven's mouth as the stars (or their illusion) began an intricate dance, twirling, touching, and synchronizing in a dazzling display.

Her ears picked up the sound of a night breeze running through the room. She was tempted to draw her grey light cloak close around her, but realized that it was only a sound. The soft sighs softly strung together into a melody that was soft, light, and matched the dance in the sky in tempo and melody.

The woman thought to herself, _It's not Sona, but it's nice. Peaceful…_

Curiosity overcoming her, she spun to look for a source to the spell. She found it in a young purple yordle skipping along in the food line. A small butterfly followed her, as well as Summoner Marcus, the spell-wiz. The young girl was the only one in the room (besides Riven) that wasn't staring up at the ceiling. Summoner Marcus was running into other spectators and mumbling apologies, but he kept his wide eyes on the ceiling.

The woman smirked to herself, before going back to her food. The strange magic rang a bell in her mind, and she remembered the new fountain that she had passed on her return.

Her thoughts returned to her most recent paths in the Sablestone Mountains, but were abruptly interrupted by the clack of a tray down right in front of her.

"You should smile more often. It's very healthy for you."

She looked up to see the young purple yordle, accompanied by the still-dumb-struck Marcus, taking a seat across from her.

"Oh, right. I guess I do need a bit of practice in that department," said Riven. "I'm just tired." She gave a fatigued smile to sell the white lie.

The yordle frowned in return. "But you should never be too tired to smile. Your smile comes from your heart. That's what Pix told me."

Riven then noticed the small winged creature sitting on the girl's cap. It actually wasn't a butterfly, or else it was a very weird one. The girl dipped a cracker in her soup then passed it up to the small creature, who took it and munched on it quietly.

"Cool," she nonchalantly replied. "By the way, name's Riven."

The girl tipped her head quizzically, sending the small creature tumbling off of it. "Just Riven?"

"Riven… the Wanderer."

The girl nodded contentedly, then jumped up on the table as she announced. "I am Lulu, the Fae Sorceress!"

Riven couldn't contain a laugh. She looked just like Veigar for a second there with her overdone theatrics.

Lulu landed in her chair with a bump, and grabbed her fork to dig in to the food, the small butterfly-thing returning to her hat.

Riven noticed that even Lulu's food had been altered. She realized that the miniature jungle on one side of her plate was her spinach leaves, while the bowl of soup looked like a shimmering ocean, complete with sail ships and small clouds floating above the "water".

She dug into her bowl, trying to ignore the iridescent plate across from her in order to keep her appetite.

"So Lulu… what was that spell?"

Riven looked up in partly-contained surprise at Marcus, the questioner. She thought Marcus knew every spell in history. By the face he was wearing, it seemed he himself was shocked.

"Imaginatio," Lulu stated matter-of-factly. "Every fae knows it!"

Marcus blinked. "Fae?"

"Yeah, like Pix."

In answer, the small creature jumped from Lulu's hat and landed in a backflip onto the edge of Lulu's bowl. It bowed low, only to lose balance and fall in the gravy.

Lulu laughed aloud at her companion, then reached into the sea-soup with her spoon. The small fae came out clinging to the spoon, covered in the not-so-watery soup. Taking her napkin, she dried its wings, then its face.

As the aquamarine goop came clear, Riven noticed two purple eyes on the creature, as well as two tiny hands and feet. Unable to contain her curiosity, she held out her unoccupied hand underneath the spoon. The fae dropped the short distance, landing with both legs sprawled out, relaxing on the callused hands. It was as light as a toothpick.

Riven brought it close, eyes picking up the traces on the wings. She had seen many creatures, but none so small and yet so self-aware. She traced a wing with a finger.

Marcus once again broke the silence.

"So where are the 'Fae' from?"

"From the Fae Glade, of course!"

Riven peeked up from her inspection to catch Marcus's blue eyes glaze over, before his hand quickly disappeared into his cloak and returning out a notepad and pen.

Riven went back to studying the fae, but was once again interrupted by a loud shout.

"Hey Lulu!"

An inward groan went up from Riven. She could handle young children, shouting, and fire, but not all three together.

Annie came skipping across the room, a giant satisfied smile on her face. Behind her shuffled the small mummy, Amumu, his head tilted back, staring up in wonder at the dancing stars. They were both soaking wet.

As 'reluctant' as usual, Annie jumped up onto the bench beside Riven. She quickly dropped her food beside Riven's, ready to dig in, but then noticed the Fae. Her eyes lit up.

"Hey Pix!"

Riven fully expected the small creature to shy away, but instead it flew out of her hand into and awkward embrace of Annie's nose.

Marcus looked up from his notes and noticed the state of their clothes.

"Why are you two dripping wet?" he asked, eyes glaring at them, yet sparkling with hidden amusement. His hand put the notepad back away, now covered in scribbles.

"We-we were just playing in the new pool," mumbled Amumu.

"And drinking it!" Annie exclaimed. "Although Amumu was too scared to go down the slide." She suddenly extended an arm to Riven. "Wanna taste?"

"No, thank you, Annie," She could smell chocolate and plums wafting from the proffered arm, but she wasn't about to lick it. "And… what new pool?"

"The-the fountain's pool o-o-on the front s-steps. Did we do wron-"

"The one Lulu made," Annie chimed in once more. "Are you suuure you don't wanna try it? It's _really_ good!"

Riven sighed. "No, Annie. In fact I think it's time for me to find Ez." She caught Marcus's quizzical gaze, and said, "He wanted me to give him that artifact I found two weeks ago in the Sablestone Mountains."

Marcus's eyes widened in excitement, but he seemed to catch himself. He glanced at Lulu, then sighed softly, before looking back at Riven. "I want to go and see it for myself later. But it's time we all got some rest. Especially you, Lulu. You've got training to do, and I want you to be ready. It's time to find your place here in the Institute."

"Place?" asked Lulu.

"Yeah, I'm a top laner, usually," said Riven, standing up with her empty bowl.

"And I'm a mid laner!" exclaimed Annie.

"I jungle," mumbled Amumu.

"Yes, every champion has a place here," said Marcus, grabbing Lulu's empty bowl and tray and stacking them on his. "You might change from time to time. And sometimes your summoner might… try new things."

Riven rolled her eyes, some bad memories arising. _Support Riven… ugh._

"But it's a team effort. And we must find where you fit in the team."

Marcus carried the four stacked trays in one hand and Lulu's hand in the other. He felt like a train conductor, with Annie holding Lulu's other hand, and Amumu holding Annie's. He placed the trays at the magical belt which carried the trays to some cleaning staff behind. He wondered if Mellony was working back there today… He quickly shoved the thought from his mind and turned to leave.

But the corner of his eye caught two furry ears and a familiar grey cardigan. He turned to his first car. "Wait here Lulu, I'll be right back."

Jogging over, he tapped the cardigan's shoulder.

"Yes?" came the solemn reply. Turning around, the champion Nasus looked up at Marcus.

For a second Marcus reveled in the fact that Nasus was actually looking _up_ at him, but dismissed it.

"I need some help. Will you be in your library tonight?"

Nasus head dipped fractionally.

"And would you be willing to aid me in a search for a subject concerning an 'Imaginatio' spell?"

One of Nasus's eyebrows raised a fraction. "Curious. I have not heard that name in centuries. Hmmm… I may know where to find what you require."

Marcus beamed. "Thank you."

He spun back to his sleepy-eyed train. He would soon look like them. If he knew himself at all, he had a long night of reading ahead.

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, I know, a shorter chapter, and after such a long time... but the next chapter is close behind. And I felt splitting them was best.<strong>

**THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUPPORT.**

**Jebinnam out.**


	7. Chapter 6

Dear Diary,

I have decided to bring Veigar tea in the evenings. We don't talk about anything, because he is usually reading one of his large books, or he is practicing an amazing-looking spell.

Sometimes I hum in the kitchen, and he shouts at me if he doesn't like the song. Or maybe I'm just a bad hummer. Anyhow, I have been reading my books, and I think I could read them over and over again. I certainly have read them all once. But I am fine with that. I am making larger meals so that I can spend more time doing stuff. But I am running out of recipes. I think I will just create some new ones. That is what all cooks do. I will just fill my time with cooking and reading.

Soon Veigar will be leaving to go to the League, and he will return through his portal in his room for dinner. He muttered a few bad words about League cafeteria food. I don't mind though.

I have a lot of reading to do. With MY books…

That's all.

_Invisible stuff: Umm about the shady guy who brought the drapes, I still have no idea who it is. Veigar still wont answer my questions. Yeah. Hope you guys are all fine. G'night!_

* * *

><p>Veigar never slept. He studied. He had cast multiple dark status spells on himself to make sure he never got tired, at least from mental exhaustion.<p>

He had spent three years of his life winning books from the greatest dark mages across the continent, and stealing the works of mages long dead from the greatest and most confidential libraries and tombs.

So sleeping, after such a great feat, was out of the option. There were still far too many magnificent books left to read. He had learned how to read whole pages in a matter of seconds. And he never forgot something he read. However he still had to practice them in order to achieve a full understanding, but that was usually just as thrilling.

He was a few pages away from finishing a book titled "Carnal Spells: The Hidden Spell Level". It was fascinating, actually having nothing to do with relationships, and he wished he had read it sooner. He could not wait to practice his Primal Carnality. But he had to read all of the bibliography to make sure he owned all of the sources.

He was finishing the last chapter before the bibliography, when he suddenly 'realized', "The cook has come in from the barrier." He glanced at the shadow-wood clock behind him. She had only spent ten minutes out there. Hopefully she did not get too fat. Her costume would look hideous. And he still had some home-improvements he needed her to put up.

Once sure he would not get interrupted again, he dove back into his book. He came out a minute and a half later. He wasn't surprised that he owned all of the books the author had mentioned as research. In fact he was confident that Morgana would pay over her sister's kingdom to have half of his library. It was indeed something he was very proud of.

But he could never stop at owning _almost_ all of the books on dark magic (and a few on related material) in Runeterra. He had to read and master every single one.

Veigar was nearly running down the steps as he went over in his mind how to cast a carnality. He reached the bottom floor and turned to enter his library, when he noticed an eerie light coming from the kitchen. He was so deep in thought, he almost dismissed it. But he paused just before the library entrance, and peered his glowing eyes at the crack in the double doors, as recognition hit.

It was the light given off by Dark Learning, a spell bound to certain tomes, usually about basic or lengthy topics that mages deigned better to simply absorb. Once opened, these books became literally impossible to put down, to the last page. Who could be reading a book bound by that? And from his forbidden section as well…

A thousand alarm bells sounded in Veigar's mind when realization hit him. He smashed open the kitchen doors, to find the cook bent over a book, ghostly light pouring from the pages into her wide eyes like a broken faucet. Her whole body was frozen, except her lavender hair, which flew back behind her as if being hit by a gale force wind.

Anger built up in Veigar as he realized what was happening.

"YOU STUPID GIRL! I TOLD YOU NOT TO GET BOOKS FROM THAT SECTION!"

He was more venting his frustration than lecturing. Even if she _could _hear him, the process couldn't – or shouldn't – be interrupted. He could only balance it out.

Dashing back through the doors, he ran into the library and up the platform's steps. As soon as the black platform he stood on turned blue, he screamed out: "EQUILIBRIUM!"

As if reacting to its master's urgency, a book came flying out of the center shelves, landing its well-worn cover into Veigar's out-stretched gauntlet with a thump. In one movement, he opened the book, turned around, and ran back to the kitchen. He did not even look up at the frozen yordle, but flipped through the pages, mumbling to himself.

"Why didn't I realize she was so-" explitive "-curious!? Here it is– wait, I hope she isn't reading a…"

Stopping his frantic search, he reached under the book the cook was "reading" and bent it up a bit. The flow of magic didn't stop, but Veigar got a good look at its cover: "Recipes for Disaster". He cursed loudly again, mumbling to himself as he jumped up and dashed out of the room again.

"Why didn't she start reading the basics? She has to read the basics or she could blow herself up with a mispronounced spell or lack of –" He stopped to scream at the book stacks: "EVERYNOVICEDARKMAGICTOMEIHAVE". He waddled back with a tall stack of books in his arms, every one bound with Dark Learning. He then sat them down in front of the cook, turned to a different page in the book Equilibrium, and began to read a chant out loud.

It was originally in an ancient language and much longer. But Veigar had translated it into the common language, as well as simplified it. And, just for effect, he made sure it rhymed.

"Darkness deep, swirling, spilling,  
>Whisper not to heart or soul,<br>Bind the darkness to her mind,  
>Let it claim her thoughts alone.<br>Stray not to a hope or dream,  
>Edge not on her wild desires,<br>Conserve the yordle that she be,  
>Yet thirst for learning with a fire…"<p>

The chant continued on through the night, as Veigar directed the dark magic she was learning away from the tender parts of her soul and heart. It was the First Principle. Dark Magic is too chaotic to be allowed to roam where it wills in a body. It needs a leash.

Veigar only stopped chanting when she had learned everything from one book, marked by the book abruptly increasing its out-pour and then slamming shut. He would take another book, and place it in front of her, opening it and letting the spell take effect once again.

At points between books, Veigar went to his room to grab his staff for casting other spells, and twice Veigar returned to the Library to grab more books. Some were dark magic, some were not. Veigar had read somewhere that it was good for students to learn neutral magic first, but he hadn't and look how well he turned out. In these times between books, Lendi blankly stared at a wall, in a trance-like state.

As the Eastern sky slowly grew with a blooming light, Veigar closed Equilibrium. He looked at the books spread out around him, and at his cook sprawled out on the floor, her face on top of the book that had just closed. She had been awake the whole time, so she was probably just as tired as he was.

There was one last enchantment he needed to put on her. He had forgotten the reasons why. He shakily lifted his staff, and in a hoarse voice whispered: "Fidus…"

Then he slumped, leaning against a counter. In his mind, one question refused to rest. "Why did you help her?" A thousand answers rang in his mind: "Just proper" "Good cooking (grumble)" "First kill of a (living) yordle" "An apprentice...". Then sleep stole in, a long-lost friend.

* * *

><p>Lendi awoke to the obnoxious ring of her alarm-clock going off. It felt far too early. Her displeasure became a sleepy moan.<p>

"Mmm, Degenero…"

The sound of the screws and gears of the clock falling to the floor were like raindrops to her tired mind, and she swiftly fell asleep again.

The sound of soft snores awoke her later. She tried to settle deeper into the grain sack she usually slept on, but found the sack less flexible than usual. Opening her eyes slowly, she found herself lying in the middle of the kitchen, a book beneath her face. She slowly pushed herself off of it, stretching her back as she rose off of the floor. Her body complained in several places about her choice of bedding, but she felt that calming feeling of waking from a long nap after a busy day.

She closed her eyes and yawned. When she opened them again, she read the cover of the book beneath her.

"Focus-based Spellcasting?" she mused aloud, "oh yeah-" she yawned again, and smoothed her tousled hair "-wasn't that book about how to silent-cast?"

From in front of her she heard a sleepy mumble. "Yes. An interesting read… a real book is "Silent Nightmares"… is like the wicked version of focus-based…" Then the snoring continued

She looked up to see Veigar, sleeping on the floor with his head leaning against the counter. He looked quite peaceful, with his mouth softly curling at the edges. His hat was askew, showing a black ear that would occasionally flit.

So why was he sleeping in her kitchen?

Slowly, Lendi stood up, and looked around. She was in the middle of a mess of books. Focusing on one book, she noticed its edges were slightly glowing. Oh yeah, the preface said something about "Dark Learning". In fact, every preface said something about Dark Learning.

Wait. How did _she_ know that?

She walked over to one particular book named "Recipes for Disaster". That book seemed extremely familiar. More importantly, though, she knew every word, from the first page to the last. That was a fun read. A first read of many a book.

Memory returned to her like a thrown brick. Reading, reading, chanting, reading. Pages, words, and spells neverending. Curses, necromancy, nightmares, equilibrium. And a slow burning in her head.

She began to moan softly as a headache took over. She forced her mind to stop, and turned to face her kitchen. She needed some tea.

She flicked up her hands to speed things up with a levitation spell, but quickly realized what she was doing. She sighed, straightening her hair. Then she let out an ear-splitting scream.

"QUIES!"

Her scream was immediately muted, leaving her mouth wide open. She awkwardly shut her mouth, then turned around sheepishly to look at Veigar.

She saw a flicker of annoyance, but it was quickly overtaken by surprise.

When her voice returned, she asked quietly. "Please, tell me what is going on."

Her master, the one who had shouted, walked over to one of the stools on the counter that shared a wall with the dining room. "Make some tea first, please." He jumped up on the stool and placed his hat on the counter. He didn't sound mad. His voice seemed troubled.

Spinning back to face the kitchen, she sighed. She didn't want to run about, and she didn't have to. In a flurry of spells, she grabbed tea bags from the pantry, filled a kettle with water, boiled the water, and dropped the tea in the kettle. Satisfied with her work, she spun and jumped up onto the stool beside Veigar, then crossed her arms. She felt very tired, and a headache was growing over her eyes.

Veigar's eyes watched her breathing then peered up to her brow. He breathed in slowly, then turned to look at his gauntlets on the counter.

"Feeling tired?"

She nodded.

"Well, after using so many spells without practicing, that is expected. It seems I spoke the chant correctly or you would be dead right now. Also, you have an immense grasp of all the minor spells. You… are a natural at spellcasting… curious," he mused, but he recovered after a moment. "And though you do not have an extensive mana pool yet, you should be recovering quickly, due to the soul-bound Equilibrium spell working on you now."

Lendi felt an eyebrow raise at Veigar's tone. Although it was still high-pitched and annoying, it was the softest she had ever heard. She wasn't sure if he was treating her like a science experiment or a patient. Or both_._

He got off the stool, grabbed a book that had been on the ground nearby him, then hopped up again. He handed her the book, a dusty tome with the title "Equilibrium" across the front.

She grabbed it carefully, afraid it might open and force her through another nightmare of knowledge. Yet, to her surprise, part of her yearned to know what was in the book. As she turned the book to open it, she noticed that the book wasn't glowing. _Good,_ she thought to herself, _I can read it at my own pace._

She flipped the book open to its first page and immediately began reading. In the first chapter, she learned that equilibrium was a spell that balanced out one's mana pool, and that this spell was created by a common yordle wizard in the first rune wars. His daughters were the first yordles to become dark mages. Noticing that their souls were slowly decaying to dark magic faster than humans, he became a spellworker and made a spell that bound itself and all magic to someone's mind. She flipped the page to the second chapter, engrossed, when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Spinning huffily on the intruder, she saw Veigar smirking, his gauntlet pointing at the stove. Slowly the whistle of the kettle filled her ears. How had she not noticed that earlier?

Veigar must have seen her confusion, as he began to explain while she attended to the tea.

"Later in the book, it explains that the spell creates an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. This is the only side-effect."

Lendi shrugged as she pulled the kettle off of the warm stove. "That doesn't sound so bad."

His voice was smug. "That's because it's already affecting you. To everyone else, reading three books in two hours sounds excessive and maybe boring. But to us, it's—"

"Whose us?"

"Hmm?"

"Who do you mean by 'us'? Who else has this Equilibrium spell?"

"No one," Veigar bluntly stated. "The creator did put the spell onto an artifact called the 'Chalice of Harmony', which has become quite popular. But his daughters died without passing on his writings on the spell itself. I found this book in the tomb of his youngest daughter. Her corpse was not pleased to see me."

Lendi stopped pouring the tea out for a second. "Wait, her corpse?"

"NOT important right now. You are the only other person alive – and by alive I mean not undead – that has this spell bound to them. It is irreversible, as much as it is imperative to have. Cook… eh, what's your name?"

"Lendilia." _Finally, he asked._

Veigar's eyes widened infinitesimally, before he resumed. "Hmm, you will need a prefix… Lendilia—"

She interrupted as she handed him a cup. "You can call me Lendi."

Veigar sighed in frustration. "Lendilia. Do you know what happens to someone who loses their soul?"

She thought for a second while she sipped the tea, but really had never heard of someone losing their soul. Veigar resumed without waiting for a response.

"Dark mages' who do not have their souls protected die a very slow and painful death. And once your soul dies, your body turns into a dirge. It takes years, but is irreversible after a point."

Lendi scrunched her nose distastefully. "But we have the Equilibrium spell affecting us, so we wont die, right?"

Veigar nodded. "Correct. And that spell can never be taken from you."

"Just I will always want to learn more about dark magic, right?"

Veigar's ears flopped either way as he chewed on the question. "Well, dark magic, light magic, neutral magic."

"Wait, Veigar, am I… evil?"

"Yes." Veigar said, yellow eyes scanning hers.

I'm evil? Wait. I can't choose to be good? Or nice? Or helpful? WHAT?

"Technically, no," grumbled Veigar. Lendi realized she had been talking out loud.

"You are a dark magician now," he continued, "and that is permanent. HOWEVER, although dark magic is mainly used for destruction, it can be used in non-evil ways. Really, I don't see the point in learning 'good' Dark Magic, but if you really wish to...sigh, I still have several tomes discussing the ethics of good Dark Wizards."

"You mean there are certain spells that I can learn that will help save people?"

Veigar shut his eyes, his brows scrunching together. "No, it is not the spell that you use. It is how you use it." He rubbed his eyes, cleared his throat, then took a sip of the tea. "But no more talk of this. It is unimportant. As your new master, I am to teach you how to cast the magic, but not what to do with it. Honestly, you could go and destroy Bandle City right now, and I wouldn't care. But right now, you probably can't. So I will teach you until you can."

Lendi didn't like the sound of that. She had friends and family at Bandle. She didn't wanna destroy anyone. But learning _how_… that sounded amazing. And she wanted to look into this 'good' Dark Magic as well.

"Now Lendi, this will be somewhat difficult, seeing as we both thirst for knowledge, when I only have one library. Hmmm." He squinted his eyes in thought. His ears flattened on either side of his head, and one hand went up to rub his chin.

_Huh, he might look cute if he didn't have that scar running across his nose... wait. _She could actually _see_ Veigar's face. It was no longer shrouded in an Lightless Veil spell.

"Umm, Veigar?"

"What is it? I'm trying to think."

"I can see your face."

Veigar's mouth opened in a scowl, but then rounded into an "Oh" as her realized what she was implying. A smirk slowly grew across his face.

"You mean my spell is gone?"

She nodded.

"Are you sure?"

He picked up a knife and held it lengthwise. She looked in, expecting to see a reflection of herself. Instead she saw Veigar's yellow glowing eyes.

"I can see through knives?"

Veigar lowered the knife to give her a scowl. "What? No. Look again!" he said, as he passed her the handle of the knife.

She lifted it once more, positioning it between their eyes. Again, she saw a pair of gleaming yellow eyes. She lowered the knife slightly to compare them. The eyes on the knife and Veigar's were nearly the same. Just one had a light blue sheen around the eyes instead of black fur, and the distortion made them seem a bit more feminine.

"Veigar, I still see–" _Wait, light blue sheen? Feminine?_

Blue skin. _Her_ skin? She spun and grabbed a shiny steel pot from the wall. She saw her whole face. Blue skin, lavender hair, and glowing-yellow eyes.

"Wha… wha… how?!"

"It's a side effect of the dark magic, as well as the fact that _I_ applied it. Well, I say side effect. Really it is quite useful. And not just for magnificent evil entrances, but also for seeing in the dark."

She hesitantly looked around. Everything did look a bit strange. She could see into every shadow clearly. But other than that, she didn't see anything too strange. It was all still lit by an afternoon light. She looked at Veigar and shrugged, a bit relieved.

"I guess I will have to wait until night to see if it works," she mumbled. She still didn't know how she felt about glowing eyes.

Veigar softly chuckled. "Lendi, it _is_ night." He pointed out of the kitchen window where she had last seen Teemo and Tristana. She could clearly see the soft teal leaves, and stars twinkling in a blue-gray vault. Shadow under trees was nearly indistinguishable from moonlit grass.

She blinked several times, partly to see if anything changed, but mainly in shock. It took a second for her to realize that Veigar was talking to her.

"...a way to hide the eye effect through illusion, if you really want to. However I think it looks better than your _bland _eyes. Now, I have finally decided. You will read all the books on topics I wont get to for a while, be it that I don't care about them or simply haven't gotten to that topic yet. And when you're done with those books, you can move onto mine. Lendi?"

She had half-heard him, thinking mainly about illusion spells. In fact, she was trying to ignore his rant entirely on these other books, but... she couldn't wait to read all she could about... well, anything.

However, just to be sure, she had to ask something. "Are there any other side effects of Dark Magic?"

His nose was wrinkled in dislike of the topic, and his voice came out reluctant.

"Well there are some Institute books about mental scarring, greed, insanity from power, but I haven't seen these 'side effects' show up anywhere."

Lendi first felt some of her confusion dissipate. Then she breathed in sharply to surpress a giggle, which in turn threatened to build. But she contained it. Maybe one day he would figure it out. She cleared her throat in order to regain composure.

"And… these illusion spells?"

Veigar sighed. "Yes, I have a book or two on the matter, maybe twelve, but its technically not Dark Magic so I don't have the same store of knowledge as the Institute or LeBlanc might have."

_LeBlanc, the League Champion? Interesting._

"You can fit a low-level status spell on your eyes to hide them, which is the first chapter of any of the illusion books combined with spell casting 101. But you also have all the books of Necromancy and Mobility to read. I suggest either making coffee or learning how to cast an Alertness spell on yourself. You wont be sleeping tonight, or... ever again."

She could almost hear his silent glee. And a day ago, such an assignment would have sounded unpleasant. Back in Bandle High, all-night reading scared Lendi to death. But she had grown accustomed to reading in her spare timing. And now, with the spell affecting her, it became a vast jewel-lit cavern ready to be explored. Tiredness and sluggishness were sorta just distractions. She felt like grinning. She even felt like giggling in glee. She felt like grabbing an alertness spell.

But first, a journal entry... a quick one.

* * *

><p>Hey,<p>

I slept GREAT last night. Made Veigar breakfast PERFECTLY on time. He was happy about that… also decided to take up knitting while I wait for meals so I don't get bored. It's FUNNER than it looks!

Also, I've decided to NEVER go into the library. Veigar himself said there were actually no recipe books for cooking in there, so I don't have to worry.

Alright, have a lot of KNITTING to do. Wont write tomorrow cuz… Veigar is just reading all of the time. I will write if I see anything suspicious!

Bai!

* * *

><p><strong>Teehee. This chapter was almost as fun as chapter 3 to write. I hope you guys are enjoying this, too.<strong>

**About the journal entries... yeah, really short, so I decided to include them in the same chapter. But any entries longer than 1000 words I will seperate (like I said I would).**

**And, yes, I double updated. It's cuz I was sorta working on both chapters at once =/ I don't kno if that's a no-no in authorship, or just common... But the last one was really short. So I feel this sorta compensates?**

**What will happen to Lendi? FIND OUT IN THE NEXT NEXT CHAPTER... I think? #chapterplanningmaster**

**Jebinnam out.**


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